Republic Pictures made 51 Three Mesqueteer movies from 1936-1943. Oddly, however, the actors playing these three heroes changed often and there were apparent nine different combinations of actors to play these parts! By far the most famous of these actors was John Wayne, who starred in eight of the films--and "Santa Fe Stampede" is one of them.The plot is pretty typical of any B-movie of the period as well as the rest of the Mesqueteer films. There is a gold mine and a baddie wants to take it away from the good guys. On top of this, the baddie pretty much controls the entire town--from the mayor to the judge to the sheriff. As a result, crimes are routinely ignored and the rights of the settlers are trampled upon routinely. The Mesqueteers, being much like traveling social workers and heroes of the old west, spring into action and try to deliver a petition to the governor for help. But, not surprisingly, the mine owner carrying this petition is killed along with his rather annoying young daughter. Everyone was sad, but I was just happy that child was no longer in the film! The baddies know that unless they do something to distract the dumb people of the town that the governor is bound to notice the crazy stuff happening there. So, to divert suspicion from the murder to the two folks, they frame John Wayne for the crime and the town of dumbbells amazingly fall for this!! Think about it--just moments ago they were signing a petition for the governor and now they believe these same men are telling the truth when they say Wayne killed his own friend and his bratty daughter! Duh.In addition to the story, you have Max Terhune on hand as the creepy weird member of the Mesqueteers. That's because he inexplicably whipped out a ventriloquist's dummy--and doing a rather poor job of hiding the fact that his lips were moving! Bizarre--and yet Terhune did this same thing in other films as well! Weird.Overall, despite the very familiar plot and the meaningless addition to Terhune's 'friend' Elmer, it's a pleasant little B-movie--the sort that is just a bit different from the average film in this very crowded genre. Well done...but odd!

The Three Mequiteers - John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, and Max Terhune come to the aid of an old friend who's besieged by a truly nasty group of politically connected claim-jumpers and horse-thieves who plan to steal his goldmine.With lots of atmosphere and suspense to spare, this excellent, rousing entry in Republic Pictures' Three Mesquiteers series is a joy to watch. It's loaded to the rafters with non-stop action, stunts, and close-calls on the part of the heroes. As with other titles in the series, Santa Fe Stampede seems seems like a twelve-chapter serial pressed into just under an hour!Certainly, this is one of the increasingly higher quality pictures leading up to John Wayne's breakthrough role the following year in John Ford's Stagecoach.One thing that's shocking to see in a 1930's Saturday matinée B-western is the sight of a little girl, who dies screaming as her wagon crashes violently from a steep rocky pass! I can't believe they did that!

This was a definite look back at the past when John Wayne was very young and starting out on a great career in films. There really is no stampede, except the bad guys trying to blame Stony Brooke, (John Wayne) for a crime he did not commit. However, the local town people want justice and are convinced that Stony is responsible for this crime and must pay for it. Stony is put in jail and his lady friend, Nanvy Carson visits him while the jail is set on fire and they are both destined to die in the blaze. Tucson Smith,(Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin, (Max Terhune) try to come to his rescue. Lullaby Joslin is also a ventriloquist and there are some funny scenes with his dummy talking and making jokes. If you look real close, you will see the famous villain of all Western Films, Charlie King. Great John Wayne Classic film, enjoy.

"Santa Fe Stampede" is one of many Three Mesquiteers films made by Republic in the late 30s and early forties. The trio in this outing consisted of John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune. For Wayne, this was the third of eight Three Mesquiteer films he appeared in and was his final "B" western series prior to his emergence as a major star.As usual the title of the movie bears little or no resemblance to the plot of the picture. The "Santa Fe" of the title is "Santa Fe Junction" and there is no stampede to be found, or for that matter, no cattle.What the film does have is a great cast. Wayne, Corrigan and Terhune look comfortable in their hero roles. Former silent screen star William Farnum, with his stage trained voice and elocution, plays the boys' friend and partner. The chief villain is played by Republic's busiest bad guy of the period, LeRoy Mason. In his gang of henchmen are such "B" western stalwarts as Charlie King, Bud Osborne and Dick Alexander. Tom London also appears as a marshal.In the video I watched, issued by Republic Pictures Home Video there are three minutes cut out. The key scene deleted involves the fate of the Farnum character and his young daughter, which some must have thought was too disturbing for young audiences. But I do not understand why the video didn't contain the complete version.Nevertheless, "Santa Fe Stampede" is a good way to spend an hour.